Forest Organic Act

The forest organic act of 1897 established the rationale and management authority for the first forest reserves in the United States. The act was in part a response to debates arising from the passage of the 1891 General Revisions Act, which repealed the 1873 Timber and Culture Act and included a rider granting the president of the United States power to set aside portions of the public domain for perpetuity as forest reserves. By failing to mandate authority for the management and protection of these lands, however, the 1891 act left as an open question the purpose of forest reserves in the United States. By the end of his term in 1893, President Benjamin Harrison had set aside approximately 13 million acres, intensifying the stakes for early conservationists and powerful western mining, timber, and water interests.

The Forest Organic Act stated that forest reserves in the United States were intended to secure “favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States…” It called upon the U.S. Geological Survey to assess existing and potential future reserves in the public domain. The Department of Interior was named the active managing authority and required to carry out its duties according to systematic, objective, and scientifically driven principles of modern resource management. In this way, the act situated the new forest reserves [Page 696]within the utilitarian foundations of an emerging progressive conservation philosophy.

Following the recommendations of the 1896 National Forestry Committee of the National Academy of Sciences, the act laid out the initial framework for timber management on public lands. The secretary was not only required to protect the reserves from fire destruction, but also for the purpose of preserving growing timber and promoting younger growth, to develop a systematic process to designate, appraise, mark and sell “dead, matured, or large growth trees.” Those appointed to prepare the sale can not profit from the sale in any way. In addition, the act stated this timber could not be exported, but sold to purchasers for use only in the state or territory in which it was situated.

The act also addressed the economic concerns of those wary of a persistent federal presence on public lands. Western mining and agricultural interests were appeased in the act's requirement that all forest reserve lands were subject to the “highest and best use.” This meant specifically that lands deemed more valuable for their mineral resources or agricultural productivity could not legally be included within forest preserves. With presidential approval, the secretary could recommend returning existing forest reserve lands to the public domain if the land was found to be “better adapted” for other purposes. All reserves remained open to future mineral prospecting and development.

Private property owners were also protected under the law. A lieu lands clause allowed landowners to trade lands located within a forest reserve for lands of equal value located elsewhere. Those choosing to keep their holdings retained right of access to their property. Finally, all water resources, timber, and stone found on the reserves could be used “free of charge by bona fide settlers, miners, residents, and prospectors for minerals, for firewood, fencing, buildings, mining, prospecting, and other domestic purposes.”

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